I would like to highlight the noble work of the Mukti Foundation in Brampton, an organization founded and lead by seniors whose main goal is helping grieving families move on with respect and dignity. This organization strives to help reduce the stress these families face with the loss of a loved one by helping to alleviate the financial burden.

Each time a member unfortunately passes away, the organization collects a matching donation amount from each member, and these funds are put towards the funeral and commission costs. Their goal is to ensure that every member is honored and remembered with respect, empathy and kindness, and that their loved ones are supported throughout the grieving process.

Speaker, great community-led initiatives like the Mukti Foundation are truly inspirational, and I want to express my sincere gratitude to the founders.

I’m excited to speak to the third reading of our very important legislation, Building a Strong Ontario Act, 2023. The government of Ontario is committed to building a strong and resilient Ontario that is aimed at achieving sustainable economic growth and improving the quality of life for all of our citizens.

The Building a Strong Ontario Act and the 2023 budget were recently introduced by our great Minister of Finance. Before I begin, I want to thank him for the tremendous work he has done, and both his PAs, who have put a lot of time and effort into this—the member from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound and the member from Oakville—in collaboration with all of our colleagues here in the chamber.

Madam Speaker, there are five key themes in what our government is doing in the 2023 budget, Building a Strong Ontario. These five themes are “Building Ontario’s Economy for Today and Tomorrow”; “Building Highways, Transit and Infrastructure Projects”; “Working for Workers”; “Keeping Your Costs Down”; and “Better Services for You.”

This plan will help build a strong economy for today and tomorrow. It is a plan to make life more affordable for everyone who calls Ontario home, with better public programs and services and a plan that makes safer streets.

Speaker, we’re driving forward our plan to tap into the resources of Ontario’s north, to supply the critical minerals that are crucial in modern EV batteries. These natural resources and this connected infrastructure and the revitalizing manufacturing base in the province’s south are all connected and will help bring investments and better jobs with bigger paycheques to Ontario. This can be seen with the Magna International investment of $265 million, bringing a new EV battery enclosure that will bring approximately 560 new jobs to Brampton.

Our government has committed close to $1 billion to support critical legacy infrastructure such as all-season roads, broadband connectivity and community support in the Ring of Fire region in order to ensure that we keep moving forward on one of the most promising mineral deposits in Canada—one that will play a critical role in batteries, electronics, electric vehicles and clean technology.

Our government is committed to continuing to grow and strengthen the wonderful province of Ontario. We’ll be doing so by continuing to build highways, transit and critical infrastructure projects. These key projects, such as the planning and construction of Highway 413, will continue to connect Ontario and get you closer to your loved ones. This is supported by a total investment of $27.9 billion over the next 10 years to connect communities, fight gridlock and keep goods and people moving across the province. The Ontario highways program includes more than 600 expansion and rehabilitation projects that are either under way or planned over the next four years. In 2023-24 alone, Ontario is investing $3.2 billion towards projects that will expand and repair provincial highways and bridges.

The government is also investing $70.5 billion for transit over the next 10 years, including continuing to transform the GO Transit rail network into a modern, reliable and fully integrated rapid transit network, further ensuring our promise of two-way, all-day GO. For our transit users, our government is dedicated to making the process of taking public transit as efficient and cost-friendly as possible. This is why we’re working to expand the credit and debit card payment system for riders, as we’re providing more user-friendly options to pay fares on a Presto device.

As costs continue to rise due to economic factors such as inflation, we are committed to keeping costs down for families in Ontario. We’re doing so by putting more money back into the pockets of Ontarians by continuing to provide gas tax cuts and fuel tax rate cuts until December 31, 2023.

The safety of all residents is a top priority for the government of Ontario, which is why we are continuing our commitment to ensuring that we’ll be protecting you and your family. We’ll be fighting gun-and-gang-related crime and building safer communities by investing $13.4 million in 2023-24 as part of the Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy.

Madam Speaker, workers are the backbone of the economy of Ontario. Our government is committed to working for workers. We’re expanding the Ontario Bridge Training Program with an additional $3 million in 2023-24 to help internationally trained immigrants find employment in their fields and get faster access to training and support toward a licence or certificate. We’re also enhancing the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program with an additional $25 million over three years to attract more skilled workers, including in-demand professionals in the skilled trades, to the province.

The 2023 budget represents a significant investment in the future of our province. The government of Ontario is committed to building a stronger and more prosperous Ontario that will benefit all of our citizens.

Speaker, it takes ambition and willingness to be an entrepreneur, which is why we are providing an additional $2 million in 2023-24 to Futurpreneur Canada, which helps entrepreneurs aged 18 to 39 achieve their business goals.

Ontario also needs a more stable and steady supply of another type of skilled worker, those in the health-related fields. Ontario needs more doctors, and there are many Ontario students who want to be doctors right here in the province, but there are not enough medical training seats available. Those who go on to study abroad have a hard time getting residencies back at home. That is why the government of Ontario is investing an additional $33 million over three years to add 100 undergraduate seats, beginning in 2023, as well as 154 postgraduate medical training seats to prioritize Ontario students trained at home and abroad, beginning in 2024 and going forward. Ontario residents will also continue to be prioritized for undergraduate spots at medical schools in the province.

In Brampton, our government is opening the new TMU School of Medicine, which will see 175 total seats for medical professionals to be trained within the city of Brampton.

Speaker, seniors are the backbone of our community, and it is essential that we support them however we can. Our government has temporarily doubled the Guaranteed Annual Income System, GAINS, payment for 2023 to help approximately 200,000 eligible low-income seniors. To ensure that more seniors who need financial help get it, the government is proposing to make changes to expand the eligibility for GAINS, starting in July 2024, which would see about 100,000 more low-income seniors receive payments for a 50% increase in recipients.

We also realize the importance of having accessible long-term care close to home. The government is investing more than $174 million over two years, starting in 2024-25, to continue the Community Paramedicine for Long-Term Care Program. The program leverages the skills of paramedics to provide additional care for seniors in the comfort of their own homes through:

—24/7 access to health services through in-home, online and virtual supports;

—non-emergency home visits and in-home testing procedures;

—ongoing monitoring of changing conditions to prevent or reduce emergency incidents;

—additional education about healthy living and managing chronic diseases; and

—connections for participants and their families to home care and community supports.

Speaker, I urge all members to vote for this plan, to build Ontario’s economy, to build highways and other infrastructure, to work for workers, to keep costs down and to serve the people of Ontario. Building a Strong Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2023, is an important piece of legislation that will enable us to put this plan into action. I urge all members of this House to vote in favour of this important legislation.

I appreciate the question from the member opposite. Our government is making unprecedented investments in health care. Not only are we making unprecedented investments in health care, as part of this plan our government is building three new long-term-care homes in Brampton. The first new long-term care will have cultural—the community has been demanding long-term-care homes since 1990, culture-based long-term-care homes, and this is the government who’s delivering this, and two more long-term-care homes.

And not only that, our government is also investing in growing and retaining the health care workforce. Since 2018, over 60,000 new nurses and nearly 8,000 new physicians have begun to work right here in the province of Ontario, but we know we need to build on this momentum. That is why our government is investing $80 million over the next three years to further expand enrolment for nursing programs, and we’ll continue to do that.

Speaker, the member is right: We are in global economic uncertainty. As the Minister of Finance highlighted in his speech, in the 2022-23 fiscal year, the deficit is projected to shrink to just $2.2 billion, and in 2023-24, we plan to further reduce the deficit to $1.3 billion, and then, Madam Speaker, we’ll return Ontario to a modest surplus of $200 million the following year.

Not only are we showing that it is possible to balance the budget while making unprecedented investments in health care, education, infrastructure, transit, highways and housing—we’re making unprecedented investments in infrastructure: $184 billion over the next 10 years. Not only are we building new schools, new hospitals and new highways, we’re making unprecedented investments in broadband infrastructure. That is the basic infrastructure that every Ontarian deserves.

The previous Liberal government has a record of not investing in these sectors: health care, education and infrastructure. I heard the member in her speech speaking about Ontario Place. It was the Liberal government that left that historic place in a state of neglect and disrepair when they had the opportunity to revitalize Ontario Place and bring it back to life. This is the government that believes in getting things done and getting things—